[Info-vax] Screen management in C

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 12/27/2024 3:54 PM, Single Stage to Orbit wrote:
> On Fri, 2024-12-27 at 14:34 -0500, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>>> This has been discussed previously here:
>>>
>>> https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.vms/c/ufBEqvGdglU
>>>
>>> That discussion has pointers to various examples,
>>
>> In general VMS Pascal/VMS Basic code should be maybe 25% shorter
>> than equivalent C code. But with a descriptor centric API like
>> SMG$ then it may be more like 40% shorter.
>>
>> One could make a nice wrapper in C++ encapsulating the context
>> and convert between stl::string / C char array and descriptors.
>>
>> But then a full screen VT UI is a concept that has been obsolete
>> for 30 years, so maybe there is little point.
> 
> People are still writing apps using the console.

There is still a need to write command line tools. Mostly
for system administrators and developers, but still there.

But full screen VT UI applications? I doubt many of those
get written today. Whether custom code using SMG$ or one
of TDMS/FMS/DECForms. The end users expectations for UI
has changed. GUI or Web.

Arne